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The gaming conference of the University of Milan disclosed a growth of 7% of the Italian online gaming market in 2011 driven by the launch of casino and cash poker games while the “traditional” games (i.e. sportsbetting, bingo, poker tournament and skill games) showed a reduction of 20%.
The Politecnico di Milano which is the Univerisity of Milan that each year publishes a report on the Italian gaming market confirmed the considerable growth of the market due to the new games and in particular by poker cash games that for instance in the month of December 2011 represented 57% of the market followed by casino games (that do not currently include slots) with 26% and traditional games with 17%.
These data show that the growth of the market depends on the offering of new games and the launch of online slots – hopefully occurring during the Summer 2012 – will represent the most relevant event of this year followed by the launch of bets on virtual events, betting exchange games and by the long awaited new bingo regulations providing operators with much more flexibility in the management of games.
An interesting factor raised during the conference is the need to fight against non-Italian licensed websites that still attract a relevant share of Italian players and the broadening of the offering of games might contribute to a reduction of the black market and also to those higher tax entries recently sought by the Italian Government.
Finally it was stressed that operators adopting an innovative approach (i.e. through new channels of communications, exploiting social media or focusing on niche games) have obtained a relevant market share in a short term confirming that there is still room for new entrants as far as they differentiate them from competitors.
The findings of this report should encourage operators to invest into the Italian market in 2012 that with a number of new types of games to be launched will face considerable regulatory changes and possible developments. Need more information on the above? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.
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